Hating Downton Abbey Series Two

I have a warm place in my heart for the first season of Downton Abbey. My best girlfriend and I spent a beautiful spring day indoors, watching the entire series in one sitting. We had a wonderful time exclaiming over the drama, insulting the oldest sister for spending so much time in the mirror, and by the end of the day we both had a mad crush on the valet, Bates, played by Brendan Coyle.

By the time we finished the last DVD and returned it to the Redbox, we were both dying for Season Two. We found no copies for sale in our area after hours of searching, except for extremely pricey copies on ebay for which we’d have to wait due to shipping. Finally I found a website that has the entire series for free, and at one a.m. I settled in front of my computer for another marathon.

(Mild Spoilers Follow)

By three a.m. I was in bed, fuming. Season two seriously let me down. Is there a British phrase which matches the americanism “jumped the shark”? I’ll paraphrase a couple of the scenes that made me crazy and you’ll see what I mean. These conversations occur between the Earl of Grantham and his trusty butler, Carson.

First –

Earl – “Carson, I’m really upset with Bates! He left me with no notice and now I don’t have a valet! I can’t believe he’d do that to me when I stood up for him!”

Carson – “Well sir, I found out that he didn’t leave willingly. Someone who knows a devastating secret threatened to tell all if Bates didn’t leave. If the secret got out it would destroy your entire family forever. He left to protect you.”

Earl – “My goodness! And I was so mean to him when he left. What was that secret anyway?”

Carson - “Oh, well, I can’t tell you that.”

Earl - “OK.”

Are you kidding me?

Second –

Carson – “Um, sir, why did you let that thieving blackguard scumbag back in the house? We both know he’s dangerous and unprincipaled.”

Earl – “I know. But Carson, it made my wife so happy!”

Seriously? The Earl of Grantham in the first series was a complete sweetheart and we adored him. There is no mention of an occurrence in between season one and season two, such as a knock on the head, so why is the Earl now a moron?

There were several other changes to characters and situations to which I strongly disagreed. My girlfriend still wants to watch the entire second season, but unless she can tell me that something wonderful happens I refuse to watch one minute more. The beautiful setting and costumes are still there, but I just can’t stomach the rest of it.

Post navigation

7 thoughts on “Hating Downton Abbey Series Two”

Wendy: Your blog made me laugh! Yep, I agree that there were some things that seemed seriously not thought through, like the Earl doing something that was not in character at all. But I still enjoyed it.

So much so that last week while on vacation in London, I took a train and expensive cab ride out to Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is mostly filmed, and visited the house and gardens. I actually stood in the entryways of Sybil and Edith’s bedrooms (Edith’s bedroom is way bigger) and walked down the main staircase and stood in the dining room. So cool!

LeeB.: Wendy: Your blog made me laugh! Yep, I agree that there were some things that seemed seriously not thought through, like the Earl doing something that was not in character at all. But I still enjoyed it. So much so that last week while on vacation in London, I took a train and expensive cab ride out to Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is mostly filmed, and visited the house and gardens. I actually stood in the entryways of Sybil and Edith’s bedrooms (Edith’s bedroom is way bigger) and walked down the main staircase and stood in the dining room. So cool!

Lee, that is seriously awesome. I want to see that gorgeous place, too!

I loved and hated Season Two. There were too many conveniences in the plot, too many characters had to play dumb to move it forward. And I seriously hated how Mathew Crawley has become something of a snob and how the Earl became less than what he was. But I seriously loved the changes in Edith and how having a purpose matured her. I loved Sybil all the way through. They also brought us some terrific new characters this season – I loved Sir Richard!

In the end the good balanced the bad.

My big fear is that next season Sir Richard will not exact his vengeance, which would be too, too convenient for one character. Hopefully they will resist that temptation.